live rock - stored in saltwater for 2 years.

[aaronc]

Hi,

Two years ago my reef tank(180g) crashed hard. Fortunately most everything had been fragged and shared with others. The tank had been running for about 6 years in total, the first 5 everything was in a 90. A year later in the 180 all of a sudden it got a bad(really) bad) infestation of hair algea, arggg.. Long story short I lost everything. When I shut the tank down I put all of the live rock into rubbermaid containers filled with saltwater from the original tank. Those rubbermaids have been under the stairs for about 2 years now. In the mean time I drilled the 180 added a sump, bigger pump, etc. Used sand in the new setup instead of larger substrate material. i just drug out the rubbermaids and opened them up expecting a big stink but to my suprise no smell, absolutley no smell, none!??! Coraline algea still seems to be most of the rocks, no hair algea, the rocks look great. They almost seem to be still cured. Is that possible? Obviously I will not be adding the stale water to my new tank; but what do you think of the rock situation?

Thanks,

Aaron

[joelr31]

With no water circulation and aeration i expect that most everything in the rock will be dead.

[boxfishpooalot]

That seems really strange I agree. But two years is a long time for bacteria to break down everything that would stink. I did this same thing and after only one week with rock in a tub with no surface agitation it really starts to stink up the house with rotten egg smell(H2S)

[Capt_Cully]

I'd second that. I'd be surprised if you didn't experience, at the least, a minicycle. If it were me, I'd add a couple of pieces of cured LR from an existing tank or aquarium store and run your tank like it was new, expecting a cycle. Test accordingly. You may end up getting a nice surpise.

Good Luck!

[aaronc]

Thanks for the replies. My plans are to take it slow again and watch everything carefully. I will add some substrate from friends tanks to get things started. I expect a cycle, at least a mini cycle. There really shouldn't be anything to cure though, as everthing should have broken down by now. I hope that nothing of the hair algea survived.....

Aaron

[boxfishpooalot]

O yes hair alage will survive. Sorry to disapoint you. Its entirely dependant on phosphate levels and grazers with available light determinng the speed at wich it grows based on intenstity and the PAR of it. Simply introducing a fish that takes a crap in your water is enough to introduce hair algae again.

[aaronc]

It's been so long since I've had to start a new tank.... Now with new water, new substrate and DEAD live rock; what would be the best way to get the tank started? I am going to add some substrate from an established tank tonight. The first thing that I would like to add would be a large cleaner crew for the tank. Should I wait until I'm sure the tank has cycled? I don't want the snails to starve so should I wait until I've added some fish and have a good bioload going?

Thanks,

Aaron

[Macimage]

Did you run any tests on the water the live rock is in?

Joyce

[aaronc]

Originally posted by Macimage
Did you run any tests on the water the live rock is in?

Joyce

Unfortunately I didn't but it smelled clean and looked nasty.

[poppin_fresh]

check the water its in for PO4... I bet its really high. You might want to be ready to deploy the GFO.

[pledosophy]

IF your not in a hurry then I'd keep the rock at a high temperature for a couple months so the rocks release the phosphates they are holding preventing further hair algaes problems. Running products like phos ban or substitute would also be a good move IMO.

Remember that when you introduce the dead rock into your system just because the ammonia reads zero does not mean there is enough bacteria to keep up a bioload. I'd add a source of ammonia, like fish food, or a clean ammonia product then test again after 4 to 6 hours to see it has been removed.

A tank full of dead rock will have a 0 ammonia reading, but is not capable of keeping up with the nitrogen cycle.

HTH

Congrats on getting back in. I love this hobby.

[tkeracer619]

Originally posted by poppin_fresh
check the water its in for PO4... I bet its really high. You might want to be ready to deploy the GFO.

Yeah, I would get some phosban and a reactor if you had problems before. I'm not sure I am ever going to run a reef without one again.

[aaronc]

Originally posted by pledosophy
IF your not in a hurry then I'd keep the rock at a high temperature for a couple months so the rocks release the phosphates they are holding preventing further hair algaes problems. Running products like phos ban or substitute would also be a good move IMO.

Remember that when you introduce the dead rock into your system just because the ammonia reads zero does not mean there is enough bacteria to keep up a bioload. I'd add a source of ammonia, like fish food, or a clean ammonia product then test again after 4 to 6 hours to see it has been removed.

A tank full of dead rock will have a 0 ammonia reading, but is not capable of keeping up with the nitrogen cycle.

HTH

Congrats on getting back in. I love this hobby.

It was pretty depressing/upsetting to leave the hobby the way I did. I was always planning to get back in though. Would you recommend cycling with lights on or off? I have 2 - 175w MH and 1 - 400watt plus to VHO's. I was thinking of running with 2 - 10K VHO's for about 6 months until I start adding corals, etc. Also in total the water volume is about 250 gallons, I've never done a fresh start of a tank this size before. How much fish food should I add? I was thinking of frozen krill and maybe hatching some brine shrimp! What do you consider a high temperature?

Thanks,

Aaron